Hands On With The Shinola Runwell 40mm, A Watch Born In Detroit (Live Pics)

Last week we had the pleasure of visiting Shinola, a new brand manufacturing watches in Detroit. Housed in the historic Argonaut building, originally GM's design studio, Shinola builds watches from Swiss components in an attempt to bring high-end manufacturing back to the United States. We'll have more on Shinola for you in the coming weeks, but today we have a hands-on look at their first watch, the Runwell.

The Runwell is offered in two sizes, 40mm and 47mm. While the larger looks great on guys with big enough wrists (and wears smaller than you would expect), it's far too large for me personally. Additionally, there are a variety of dial colors (including a few bright and unusual options) as well as a handful of metal options including brass plated, matte black, and both brushed and polished steel. Today we'll take a closer look at the 40mm Runwell with a polished steel case and a grey dial, a particularly handsome combination.

When you first pick up a Shinola watch, the heft is particularly striking. The Runwell isn't uncomfortably or unnecessarily heavy, but it does have that satisfying weight that immediately makes you believe in the quality of the object in your hands. The arching lugs are integrated into the case and the screws affixing the caseback go all the way through the case and anchor directly into the bezel, minimizing the number of seams and weak points.

The caseback itself is a thing of beauty, with a multi-tiered Shinola logo, proudly stating "Built in Detroit." We particularly like that Shinola is up front about the provenance of its components and construction. Under the "Built in Detroit" it is clearly stated that inside the Runwell is a "U.S.A. Movement With Swiss Parts." Additonally, like all Shinola products (bicycles, leathergoods, papergood, and more are also available), each piece has a unique serial number prominently displayed. With details like this, Shinola hopes to emphasize the unique, hand-assembled quality of each watch that comes out of the factory.

The Runwell's dial is clear and classic, with luminous hands, Arabic numerals, and a simple sub-seconds dial at 6 o'clock. The dials are of great quality and have that layered, three-dimensional look that draws the eye in. The grey color on this model is subtle but a little different, and the orange accents on the Shinola logo and seconds hand are nice touches. An American-made Horween leather strap rounds things out, and compliments the watch perfectly.

The American-built movement inside is a high-quality quartz movement built from parts supplied by Ronda AG in Switzerland. The components come into Detroit and are hand-assembled by a team of workers who have been specially trained by Ronda to work on these movements. Though we don't often write about quartz watches here on HODINKEE, working with quartz allows Shinola to keep the products at an affordable price point, enables more workers to be trained for quality manufacturing jobs in a shorter time frame, and makes future expansion a simpler, more dynamic process. Shinola is hoping to change the sub-$1,000 watch landscape in a big way, rather than producing a small number of niche timepieces.

When it launches later this year, the 40mm Runwell will sell for $550 and will be available online, in the brand's New York City and Detroit boutiques, and in a handful of select retailers across the United States. A pre-sale limited edition of 2,500 Runwell watches (1,500 40mm and 1000 47mm) sold out in a matter of days, and one has already been re-sold on ebay for nearly $2,000.

Expanding upon their partnership announced earlier this year, Shinola and Filson introduce a new collection of watches called "The Scout." The full product family consists of seven watches, including models with either a 3-hand date or dual-time complication, all with a modern, rather outdoors-y craftsman aesthetic inspired by the classic pilot's watch.

The ultimate goal of Shinola's watchmaking division is to design, manufacture, and assemble most components of watches (including movements, eventually) from start to finish entirely within the United States. While their current models are only assembled in the U.S. (with cases and movement components produced abroad), the company now takes another step toward vertical integration by bringing dial-making to domestic soil.

I was a bit skeptical when I landed in Detroit. This is where Shinola, purveyors of everything from bicycles to leather goods to watches, calls home. Enough has been said about Detroit, from its slow decline amid the waning American manufacturing landscape, to its current prospects for revitalization and urban renewal. But in a relatively short period of time, Shinola has been both lauded and maligned for its relationship with the city. Supporters praise the company for its local hiring practices and support of scalable business models, while detractors cite everything from a skewed perception of "American manufacturing" to ethically questionable marketing practices. But, before we get into those deeper questions, let’s first take a look at exactly what’s going on in Shinola's brand new leather strap facility.

We've been keeping you up to date with Shinola's offerings from the very beginning, with the time-only Runwell 40mm. The Detroit-based brand is building upon great aspirations to return high-level manufacturing to the US by expanding its collection of watches. The newest release, the Runwell Chrono 47mm, is a solid addition to their existing range of affordable American-made wristwatches and the first with a complication. Tons of live photos and all the details after the jump.

This week Shinola Detroit opens the doors of its flagship store in New York's Tribeca neighborhood, only the brand's second store after the one in Detroit. Shinola Creative Director Daniel Caudill gave us a tour of the new space, where you can get a hands-on look at Shinola's watches, leathergoods, bikes, and other offerings, including a number of collaborations and unique creations only available in the boutique.

​On a chilly day in April we ​pulled up to Detroit's famous Argonaut Building to pay a visit to Shinola, which is building everything from watches to bicycles to leathergoods right here in the USA. Shinola's story is one of using craft and manufacturing to bring life back to a hurting community, and it is amazing that watchmaking is playing such a central role. We spoke with members of the Shinola team and went inside the watch manufacture to give you a closer look at this new American brand.